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According to a June 13 Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) article, authorities are reportedly denying imprisoned rights activist Hu Jia access to adequate medical care. Hu suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and his family has expressed concern over his poor health. Authorities allegedly told Hu's family that his health has improved and he is not eligible for medical parole, according to the CHRD article.

According to a June 13 Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) article, authorities are reportedly denying imprisoned rights activist Hu Jia access to adequate medical care. Hu suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and his family has expressed concern over his poor health. Authorities allegedly told Hu's family that his health has improved and he is not eligible for medical parole, according to the CHRD article. Under the Measures on Implementing Medical Parole for Prisoners, issued in 1990 by the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Public Security Bureau, a prisoner is not eligible for medical parole unless "there is risk of death in the short term" or until he has served one-third of a fixed-term sentence (the full Chinese text is posted on the Ministry of Justice Web site, relevant English excerpts are available on the Duihua Foundation Web site). The CHRD article states that without access to Hu's medical records, Hu's family has no way to ascertain if his current condition is life-threatening or if he has regular access to a liver specialist.

On April 3, 2008, the Beijing Municipal First Intermediate People's Court sentenced Hu Jia to three-and-one-half years's imprisonment and one year deprivation of political rights for inciting subversion of state power, a crime under Article 105 of China's Criminal Law. CHRD posted a copy of the court's decision, and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) has translated the decision into English. Upon leaving the courtroom on April 3, defense lawyer Li Fangping indicated that Hu had 10 days to appeal the decision, but did not plan to do so, according to an April 3 Boxun.com article (in Chinese). As reported on April 22 by Agence France-Presse (AFP), Hu Jia told his other lawyer, Li Jinsong, on April 4 that it would be futile to appeal. However, the AFP article also reported that Hu's lawyers were denied access to Hu on April 13, the last day to file an appeal. According to an April 23 CHRD article (in Chinese via CHRD), Li Fangping contacted the court, which notified him that it had not received a petition for appeal from Hu Jia during the 10-day appeal period.